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Orange City Estate Planning Blog

High Five: The Zen Guide to Probate

Life is full of transitions, and the end of someone’s life can be the most significant transition of all. Amidst the emotional challenges that come with laying a loved one to rest, it can be intimidating to discover that you’ve been designated as the executor of your loved one’s estate. Then you find out you are a fiduciary and the heavy responsibility that imposes, and suddenly you’re feeling like a fish out of water. [Read More]

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High Five: The Zen Guide to Creating a Will

Over the last seven years of advising clients, I have come to the realization that many people aren’t doing estate planning because it’s intimidating. It’s scary. Depressing. That’s a lot of negative emotion! But I don’t think estate planning is a negative experience – quite the opposite. Follow this guide to finding the Zen of creating your will, and you’ll soon discover that all those negative thoughts have been replaced by peace of mind about your final affairs. [Read More]

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What Does a Probate Lawyer Do?

It is a great idea to hire a probate lawyer before you actually “need” his or her services so things can go as smoothly as possible when it comes to taking an estate through the probate process. Unfortunately, that’s not always how it works. Oftentimes, a person isn’t even aware of what a probate lawyer in Northwest Iowa does until he or she is in need of one. It’s very common to go looking for a probate lawyer in Northwest Iowa once a loved one has passed and help is needed immediately. [Read More]

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FAQ: What is a Personal Representative?

The person whom Northwest Iowa trust and estates attorneys have long referred to as the “executor” when managing your estate also has an alternative name. Known as the “personal representative”, this person is appointed by either the person doing the estate planning or by the courts when there was no one named in a will. The personal representative has a very big job of finishing up the decedent’s business, such as taking care of taxes and keeping the bills paid; not to mention the much more commonly recognized job of making sure the decedent’s wishes are followed when it comes to distributing assets. [Read More]

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Sharing Information with Your Family

Every family has its own approach when it comes to talking about financial and legal information. However, families who are at the estate planning phase should be having at least some superficial conversations about these topics, as there is significant information which needs to be shared just to make the estate plan work smoothly. [Read More]

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What Happens to Your Online Identity when You Die?

A standard estate plan deals with the real-world assets you own. Your house. Your car. Your bank accounts. Often, though, the standard estate plan doesn’t account for your digital assets. “I’m not a computer nerd,” you say. “I don’t have a digital estate.” But that’s not entirely true. [Read More]

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